Stealing Thunder
|name=Stealing Thunder |image=Marauder SC2 Art1.jpg |imgsize=200px |author=Micky Neilson |editor= |artist= |intartist= |series= |parent= |pages=9 |publisher=Blizzard Entertainment |published=October 13, 2010 |binding=Electronic |isbn10= |isbn13= |isbn10e= |isbn13e= |inseries1= |inseries2= |inseries3= |inseries4= |inseries5= |inseries6= |inseries7= |inseries8= |inseries9= |inseries10= }} Stealing Thunder is a StarCraft II short web story written by Micky Neilson, set in the StarCraft universe and designed to tie-in with Wings of Liberty. It focuses on the marauder unit and concerns the life of Isaac White, a marauder who specialized in disarming explosives, a skill known as "stealing thunder". Description As a bomb technician during the Guild Wars, Isaac White always kept a level head… until the day he made one terrible mistake. Now, Isaac must face the demons of his past and overcome the deadliest enemy of all: a ticking clock. Summary Prologue Bomb disposal expert Isaac White, a Confederate soldier fighting in the Guild Wars, disarmed bombs on an important bridge on Gamma Dorian. White discovered a bomb easily and disarmed it. However, as Confederate transport vessels crossed the bridge, he noticed another bomb. The first one had been a decoy. White tried to warn the others. Sixteen Years Later Sixteen years later, Isaac White was a first sergeant and marauder in the Dominion Armed Forces, serving on the battlecruiser Tahoe. He was still haunted by his failure at Gamma Dorian. He had been demoted for that, but refused to leave the military. Now he had to deal with Commander Rindge, who loathed him. White was informed that his leave was canceled. He would take part in an operation to rescue miners, who were being attacked by pirates called the Players' Club. The miners were Kel-Morians. Based on the low-gravity moon of Chanuk, the miners had carved it up looking for minerals. White took part in the Dominion assault on the pirates. He tangled with Smokin' Joe, a pirate firebat. White managed to hurl "Joe" away, but ended up stuck in an elevator shaft. By the time White awoke, the Dominion had cleared out. They weren't interested in rescuing the miners, only in killing some pirates, as the Players' Club had tangled with the Dominion in the past. After being informed of the situation (Players' Club defeated, Kel-Morians suffering heavy losses), White noticed a countdown on various screens in the cafeteria, which had become a makeshift triage center. Instead of immediately evacuating, White headed to the ops center. There he spoke to a rosy-cheeked miner, who was telling the other Kel-Morians that some of their employees had stolen explosives and set the mining base to explode, as well as disabling their transport vessels. The Kel-Morians were stranded. Commander Rindge ordered White to leave, but White refused. He would stay behind and rescue the Kel-Morians. He had decided to forgive them for Gamma Dorian. White deserted and informed the Kel-Morians that the Dominion was abandoning them. He helped them plan a bomb disposal job. He would take a drilling machine, a FAFNR, to the location of the stored explosives. On his way, the Kel-Morians told him about Trevor "Smokin' Joe" Jacobs, the firebat he had previous fought. Jacobs had a grievance with the Kel-Morians and openly opposed them, but was now dying of cancer. His allies, including Philbin Gonsales, had gotten jobs on Chanuk and used their positions to launch the attack. Jacobs wanted one last attack on the Kel-Morians. With less than sixty minutes to the explosion, he discovered at least 30 bombs that needed disarming. While each could be quickly disabled, if even one went off, so would the rest, resulting in a massive explosion which would kill anyone. White began to work quickly. White worked quickly and steadily. As he reached for the last one, Jacobs blindsided him. With less than forty seconds left, Jacobs was a dangerous obstacle. The two engaged in a powered armor fight. Eventually White got the upper hand, throwing Jacobs away and grabbing the last bomb. Without enough time to disarm it, he simply threw it, hoping to get it far enough away to prevent secondary explosions. The bomb set off a large explosion, but it wasn't able to reach the others. The day was saved, and White would remain with the Kel-Morians.Neilson, Micky. "Stealing Thunder." (October 20, 2010). Blizzard Entertainment. Stealing Thunder Accessed 2010-10-20. Characters Main Characters *Isaac White Supporting Characters *Trevor Jacobs *Rindge Minor Chracters *Philbin Gonsales *Park *Ruxby *Sammy *Shila *Shoberg *Sousa *Zeke Turner References Category:Short stories